In May of 2001 my sister-in -law Jean and myself had three weeks to travel in Greece and Turkey.  We choose May because it would be both cooler and quieter than the summer months. We wanted a fairly relaxed schedule and did not want to island hop.   After much research in guide books and on the internet we decided on 6 Nights on the mainland and 5 nights on Santorini.  We flew into Athens from Manchester England.  Took a bus to Delphi and Galaxidi and back to Athens.  

If there happens to be a taxi strike scheduled during your stay, don't let anyone tell you it won't affect you.  They effectively closed down the city for 24 hours on the very morning we had to get to the airport for our flight to Istanbul.   George of Lonely Planet Thorn Tree who aspires to be "the most famous taxi driver in all Athens" came to our rescue when all else failed

From Athens we took a short flight to Istanbul.   We enjoyed  Athens but fell in love with Istanbul.   It's a fascinating city, steeped in history and very friendly.  Much  we wanted to see was within walking distance of Sultanhamet where we choose to stay,  We walked for miles and travelled further afield by public bus, tram and ferry.  It's an easy city to get around with friendly  people waiting to help us find our way.  No they were not carpet salesmen, though they can be very helpful too

Cappadocia was amazing.   We stayed at the newly renovated cave hotel 'Gamirasu" and can't recommend it highly enough